#project ghost

“Over here! Cardinal—here!” 

Copia smiled, squinting his eyes shut a little as he did. The sound of children playing and the bright noon sun were not the best ways to work through a hang-over but at least it wasn’t interviews and paparazzi and paperwork. Taking care to adjust his cassock, Copia knelt down and picked up the well-used baseball. He rolled it in his black gloves tenderly for a second.

“Do not be obscene around the children,” Terzo chuckled, raising a single eyebrow. He was unused to the feeling of emoting without a layer of paint over his skin. It felt like he had too much freedom and simultaneously like he was far too exposed.

“I am not being obscene,” Copia said tersely as he pivoted and chucked the ball back towards the children. The chorus of cheers made him feel warm and fuzzy—and caused him to promptly turn and vomit in the rosebush to his left. He heard Terzo suck his teeth and shake his head.

“Cardinal Copia,” gasped a breathless child as they darted over. They took a second to catch their breath as Copia wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and pulled on a smile.

“Yes, child?” Copia tried not to notice as Terzo pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Can you and Papa—uh…” both the child and Copia turned to look at Terzo. The former Papa lifted his eyebrows and pinched at the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh.

“Brother Terzo,” Terzo supplied.

“Brother Ter—Shouldn’t it at least be Father?” Copia questioned, earning a callous shrug and a cold shoulder. “Brother Terzo,” he finished instructing.

“Can you and Brother Terzo come play with us?” the child spat quickly, grabbing Copia’s hand with an over-large smile.

“Oh, no, I’m afraid not,” Copia clasped the child’s hand between both of his own. “We are on our way to a very important meeting. We do not want to keep Sister Imperator waiting, do we?” He released the tiny hand and lightly booped his pointer finger on the tip of the child’s nose.

“But—I thought the Papa followed his own schedule?” the youth prodded mischievously as he took a small step backwards.

“Well, no, not really. Many people have to be consulted to make a Papa’s schedule. There are so many things to consider and–”

“Neither of us are Papa,” Terzo cut off the Cardinal, tilting his head to one side. “Shoo,” he made a scooting motion with both his hands.

Copia frowned a little, eyebrows drawn up in pity. He could hear the bite in Terzo’s voice, the angry little hissing that meant (secretly) the former Papa was hurting. The Cardinal knew, as did most, that Terzo was not pleased at being removed from his position as Papa. The Ministry had spent many quiet, breathless nights in wait as Terzo had screamed and yelled at Imperator and Nihil and anyone that would listen. Copia didn’t know what had finally broken the war, but it certainly seemed to have taken a large piece out of Terzo’s ego.

“Don’t do that,” Terzo snapped as he started walking again, threatening to leave Copia in his wake.

“Ah, do what?” 

“Look at me like that. I don’t need your pity,” Terzo paused to poke Copia in the chest, hard. 

“No, no—it’s not pity Terzo. I just—,” Copia hesitated as Terzo stared at him, waiting. Copia knew to expect a punch or simply to be ignored for the next few days. He lifted his hands passively, “you could… talk about it?”

“‘It’?” Terzo’s lips moved over the short word more erotically than was necessary. 

“Your—what happened in Gothenburg.” Copia scanned Terzo’s eyes until the slightly taller man turned away silently. It made the Cardinal almost prefer the hit.

“I am an ear if you need it,” Copia said quietly as he took up stride next to Terzo once more.

“What you are is a crooked nose, pointing where it doesn’t belong.”

‘Yes,’ Copia thought to himself as the remainder of the walk was taken in silence, ‘there’s that hiss again. He is like a cornered alley cat.’ 

The young Cardinal dropped his eyes to the ground as they continued on to the meeting hall. He tried to remember Terzo as the care-free youth he’d once been, even as the charismatic singer for Project Ghost; but it all led back to his hubris, his fall and the sore, wounded creature he now was.

Copia was still paying far too much attention to the ground as Terzo entered the inner sanctum. The former Papa quickly yanked the door shut behind him and, as intended, Copia walked right into it. Rubbing his nose he sneered into the glass at the smirk looking back at him.

The Cardinal took a second to smooth down his uniform and a strange movement, an odd scent, caught his attention. He turned to search the yards around him only for his eyes to settle on the Baphomet fountain. A beautiful hand carved, three tiered monument to one of the Dark Lord’s many faces. It was spotted now with ghouls, which was not a usual feature. They watched almost eagerly, standing, sitting, leaning, perching all over the marble. Copia could see their tails lashing at the air.

He spun and rather frantically pulled open the sanctum doors, darting inside. He knew the ghouls were just a part of Clergy life, more active since the beginning of Project Ghost, but he still wasn’t used to them. They always seemed to watch his comings and goings, even from when he was very young. The looks now seemed more intense, like they were all laughing at him and that was not something he wanted to think about for too long.

He slipped his way into the back of the meeting hall, nodding to a few of the clergy gathered in the back as he shuffled awkwardly to the only open seat remaining in the rear. As he settled in he took stock of just how much of the upper clergy was in attendance—many of them Copia did not know, did not recognize, or had only heard rumors about. 

Imperator stood near the podium at the front of the room, whispering quickly to her secretary as the women passed files and folders between them. Nihil and the other Emeritus’ sat in the front. Nihil and Primo were discussing something quite seriously; Secundo appeared to be live-streaming, or at the very least filming himself; and Terzo sat silent. Copia shifted uncomfortably in his seat, jumping about a foot in the air as the sound system clicked on.

“Cardinal? If you would—” 

Copia stared at the podium as Imperator leaned in to the mic. She gestured to a seat open next to Terzo. The Cardinal cleared his throat and stood, trying to walk like a normal human person to his new seat. His body did like to forget how to complete tasks from time-to-time; walking, sleeping, eating, etc.

“Sorry, heh, sorry,” he laughed as he shuffled, “I didn’t know we had assigned seating.” There was no laughter but Nihil and Primo did give very loud groans, like one might expect after a pun so it was almost a win. He settled into his chair and tried not to look at the others.

“Very well,” Imperator was all professionalism at the microphone. Copia was proud to see her so unfazed by the attentive gaze of all in attendance. 

“I am aware many of you may argue the importance of this announcement, question the need to gather so many on such short notice. I assure you this will impact you all, not to mention the future of this church,” while Copia could see the Sister’s stack of papers she did not seem to need references for her speech. She was always so prepared and…

Copia’s blood ran cold, his gut twisted painfully and he was fairly certain it had nothing to do with his IBS. He fearfully turned his eyes to Imperator and saw her small smile of acknowledgement. This meeting was about him—it was about what Imperator and Nihil had decided about the future of the church and Project Ghost.

They were all gathered to—Copia’s heart began racing.

“You are all gathered to greet and acknowledge the newest front man of Project Ghost,” Imperator gestured strongly towards the seated Cardinal. “Our very own Cardinal Copia.”

A bomb had gone off somewhere and Copia’s ears were ringing. He could not hear the grumbles, the light protests at his appointment and at the importance of the meeting at all. He could not hear Imperator defending the decision, outing Nihil as a co-conspirator to this appointment, claiming that for the time being this was just about the Project and Outreach. 

He could, however, feel the eyes of Primo, Secundo and Terzo on him. Primo and Secundo were simply appalled but not Terzo. Out of his peripheral vision Copia could see the look of betrayal, of suspicion and then white hot seething vitriol settle over his predecessor. He tried to focus on the Sister’s continued words and rebuttals yet could not.

“I wanted to tell you,” he was fairly certain no sound came from his lips, just movement, but Terzo sneered in time. “I didn’t know how. I didn’t—I didn’t expect her to announce it so soon, like this!” He turned fully to look at Terzo. The expression meeting him was no softer, no more understanding. He leapt to his feet.

“--created by Nihil himself, so yes, I feel like he has full power to appoint the next front runner. I—Brother Terzo?” Sister Imperator looked stiffly, almost down her nose at Terzo as the youngest Emeritus stood. “Is there a problem?”

Copia’s eyes snapped between his mother and Terzo. He could almost see the war between them, both waiting for the other to make a move or call a draw. In the end the Sister won and Terzo retreated. The brother thrust his arms dismissively into the air and stormed from the room, ignoring demands that he take his seat.